


Happily Ever After

by Bythia



Series: Just Write: Trope-Bingo 2020 [16]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26735878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bythia/pseuds/Bythia
Summary: Following the defeat of Voldemort, those in power intend to go back to the status quo as if the year of Voldemort's reign had never happened. Even worse, they start with the same mistakes all over again. Harry and Neville set out to teach the whole wizarding world of Great Britain a lesson.
Relationships: Neville Longbottom/Harry Potter
Series: Just Write: Trope-Bingo 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897216
Comments: 4
Kudos: 158
Collections: Just Write! Trope Bingo





	Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> I really thought this square would be the hardest one to accomplish, but in the end, this story basically wrote itself.
> 
> Somehow "goblin" has changed into "dverger" for me. The honour for inventing that concept goes to Keira Marcos and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one whose headcanon was formed by Keira in this one. 
> 
> **Disclaimer** : I don't own any of the characters or anything of this world. I just borrowed them to play a little bit, and I don't make money with the stories I borrowed them for. But the words are mine, so please don't copy them to use them as your own.
> 
> Have fun,  
> Bythia

Harry sat down in the Potter box in the Wizengamot, securely hidden under his invisibility cloak. No one was expecting him here and he would not reveal himself until the very last minute before this session would start. Harry threw a look at Neville, who was sitting beside his grandmother in the Longbottom box, the perfect picture of the nervous boy who did not know any confidence. The only reason for anyone present believing this little act was that none of the esteemed Ladies and Gentleman who sat in the Wizengamot had bothered to be present during the last fight against Voldemort in Hogwarts.

This day would be a very harsh awakening for all of them. And for many people of whom Harry had thought he could call them friends and who had shown their true colours in the last few weeks.

It was the end of August and originally Harry had thought he would either not be in England any more at this point of time or prepare to go back to Hogwarts for another year after he had missed what should have been his NEWT year. Nearly everyone in their OWL or NEWT year would repeat it because there had been no opportunity to learn anything while Hogwarts was ruled by the Death Eaters. But a discussion with Neville at the end of May, only three weeks after the battle for Hogwarts, had changed every single plan of Harry's.

It had been galling for all of his years in Hogwarts that no adults were stepping in whenever he had found himself in trouble. He had had to handle situations that no child should have found themselves in and while he had long before Hogwarts learned that he could never ever trust any adult to step up for him, he had never stopped to wish for one who would do it regardless. And the older he got the more he had learned to understand how much he had been let down by every single adult in his life because everyone looked at the chosen one to solve their problems and thought that would be enough.

And he had solved their problem, at least the obvious one of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The underlying problems of that all, of which there were too many to count, were still unsolved, and no one seemed interested in solving them. Instead, they had started to create new ones not even a week after Voldemort's defeat. Harry's first reaction had been a huff and a plan to leave England so that he would not have to deal with any of it.

He had died for those people and he thought he had earned a little bit of quiet and peace.

What had held him back, in the end, were all the young, hopeful children who had celebrated their freedom after a horrific year in a place where they should have been save. They thought all their pain and agony were overcome and what would follow was a bright future, in which they could choose their own path. While Harry had looked at them, he had begun to understand that he would turn into one of those adults he had detested for years if he left England to its own device. But it had only been his very informative talk with Neville that had led him to the decision to not turn into such an adult. They had chosen him so solve their problems and he would dedicate his life to it, even if nearly everyone would hate him for solving those problems no one wanted to have solved.

The last few members of the Wizengamot arrived only seconds before the chime sounded to announce the start of the session and Harry dropped his invisibility cloak at the moment the door closed behind the last one. And still, no one was taking notice of him or of the fact that Neville had dropped his act at the same time. If Harry did not know any better, he would have never believed that these people had just recently lived through a war. It was ridiculous how unobservant they were.

"I welcome you, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the first session of the Wizengamot of the third quarter of the year 1998," Elphias Dodge's voice boomed through the hall.

He had been chosen as the new Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot back in May right after the defeat of Voldemort. It had been the first of only two sessions which had taken place before the summer break. Harry had been infuriated that they actually took a summer break for nearly three months after all that had just happened. There had been so much to do, so much to plan and to rebuild after the year of Voldemort's terror, but the government had just taken a break. It was as if they thought they could go back to the status quo now that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were defeated. Never mind that there where hundreds of people, those who had been sent to the muggle born camps and those in Hogwarts, who needed help to reorder their lives.

Harry had yet to see any kind of official help for those who had been imprisoned, accused of stealing magic and taken away their wands. It was one of the first things on his and Neville’s agenda to see those people compensated for the pain and fear they had to live through. But other things would probably take precedence because the Wizengamot wanted to verify a new law on this day that Harry and Neville intended to stop right away.

"Our first order of business on this fine day is to welcome a new Lord in our midst," Dodge continued, sending a benevolent smile in the direction of Neville.

The scribe, who set in front of the elevated chair of the Chief Warlock, stood up and cleared his throat. "If Mr. Neville Longbottom – and Mr. Harry James Potter would please step forward, to declare their…" The scribe paused and blinked several times. "I-I'm sorry, my Lords and Ladies, th-there seems to be a … mistake with the protocol!"

Harry smirked, satisfied with the bewilderment of the scribe.

Dodge frowned. "What is it?"

"I…" The scribe swallowed. "I just think this is not possible!"

"I assure everyone in this room that the magic of this chamber was thoroughly investigated in the last couple of weeks. There have been found no manipulations." Gawain Robards had stood up from his seat beside the door.

He was one of very few in the ministry that Harry had regained any respect for. They had often worked together in the last few months during rebuilding Hogwarts and trying to help those that had been freed from the camps. Robards had somehow regained his position as Head Auror through the last year, but Harry also knew he had used it to undermine Voldemort's troops wherever it had been possible.

The scribe looked up to Dodge quizzically.

Dodge nodded. "Proceed, so all of us will know what the apparent problem is!"

The scribe took a deep breath. "If Mr. Neville Longbottom would step forward in declaration of his intent to take on the Lordship of Longbottom and Gryffindor" - low muttering broke out among the members of the Wizengamot - "and if Mr. Harry James Potter would step forward in declaration of his intent to take on the Lordship of Potter, Black" - the muttering rose in volume - "Peverell" - and rose so loud, the scribe could only be heard because of his magical enhanced voice - "and Slytherin."

With that last word, the muttering stopped so abruptly, that the silence felt like a blow. The scribe sat hurriedly down, surely to avoid anyone questioning him.

Neville and Harry for their part both stood up and took the one step to the front of their respective boxes. It was the first time in his life, that Harry could savour the feeling to be the centre of attention of the whole room. Everyone was looking alternately at him and Neville, and all of them were wide-eyed and opened-mouthed. They had already to suspect that this day would not go at all how they had planned it.

Neville, as the older one, spoke first. "I accept the responsibility and magic as the head of the house of Longbottom as is my right by blood." A soft dark-green light encompassed first Neville and then the whole box he was standing in, before settling over the court of arms of Longbottom, that was embedded in the front of his box.

"And I accept the responsibility and magic as the head of the resurrected house of Gryffindor as is my right by blood and rite." This time it was a red light that circled around Neville for a long time before it spread out over the whole box and finally settled down on a spot beside the court of arms of Longbottom. It took only a few seconds for the court of arms of Gryffindor to form. The light subsided slowly in the following minute.

Harry kept quiet until the last of the light on Neville's box had vanished. His claiming of the titles of the Potter and Black were similar to Neville's claim of the Longbottom titled, with the light for Potter being a light-blue and that of the Blacks being a dark-blue. Both times the light was accompanied by a warm feeling that felt like being pulled into a loving embrace to Harry.

He could feel the spectators holding their breath when he started with his third claim. "I accept the responsibility and magic as the head of the resurrected house of Peverell as is my right by blood and rite." This time the light was a deep orange and Harry could feel the cloak and the Elder wand vibrate in response to it. The stone he had not with him, that he had secured at home after he had retrieved it from the forest. But he had never been able to leave the Elder wand behind and it had become his primary wand in the last weeks.

Harry took a deep breath before his last claiming. "I accept the responsibility and magic as the head of the resurrected house of Slytherin as is my right by conquest twice over." As he had expected, the Slytherin light was green and when it curled around him he could have sworn to feel it physically squeezing him. It took a little longer than it had taken with Neville for the light to vanish around his box.

Without waiting for a reaction from anyone else, Neville and Harry sat down in their chairs, portraying a picture as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Harry could not deny that he was enjoying the silence that was stretching out for five whole minutes before Dodge nervously cleared his throat.

"This was quite unexpected," Dodge said. "But … as the magic of this esteemed chamber has accepted all … six claims … Let us welcome Lord Potter and Lord Longbottom in our midst!"

It was tradition to welcome a new Lord or Lady with loud clapping and the occasional cheer, but Harry was not surprised that barely any member of the Wizengamot was managing even a slow and subdued clapping. He suspected they were all wondering at least about the claim for Gryffindor and Peverell, and maybe even Slytherin for those who had thought Voldemort's claim of being the heir of Slytherin fraudulent. They all should have remembered him to be the heir of Black because it had been publicly announced on the day after his first birthday, but he would not be surprised if they were even wondering about that.

Dodge met his gaze for a long moment and Harry could already see the resignation in the older man. He had been a good friend of Dumbledore as far as Harry knew and the late Chief Warlock had probably bemoaned to his friend that Harry was not as gullible as he had hoped. But despite the considerable work Dumbledore had invested in keeping him uninformed and uninterested in the political process of the magical world, he was now sitting in his rightful place, where no one had ever expected him to be.

Harry tapped the front of his box with the tip of his wand, which let the court of arms at the front glow.

Dodge frowned, but he had no other choice than to call Harry forward. "Lord Potter, you have the word."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock." Harry stood up and inclined his head in the direction of Dodge. "I am glad to finally be able to take over the responsibility my father and godfather passed on to me. But before we proceed, I would like to make a personal announcement, as it is tradition to inform this esteemed body of such personal changes." He paused and sent Neville a smile before he very deliberately searched out Muriel Prewett in her box. She was already fuming and Harry hoped his next words would let her explode. "Lord Longbottom and I are pleased to inform you of our marriage, which has taken place on the 1st of August of this year in a small, private ceremony in Wick. Formally it is Potter-Longbottom for both of us now, but we will keep Potter and Longbottom respectively in this chambers to head off any confusion during these sessions."

He was a little bit disappointed that Lady Prewett was able to hold back her fury. He would have loved to see her lose it in the middle of a Wizengamot session. All the plans she had so carefully laid out with her niece Molly Weasley nee Prewett had just been destroyed. The work of nearly two decades had been ruined in a matter of seconds. And he could clearly see it on her face, but she managed to hold herself back from displaying her displeasure with words.

Dodge had gone pale. "Congratulations, my Lords."

Harry nodded and sat down again.

Dodge opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the court of arms of Abbott started to glow, and Dodge gave the word to Lord Abbott.

"I propose a break for research before we continue with this session," Lord Abbott said. "I think we should find out how it will influence a vote when a member of this esteemed body holds more than two titles. Has Lord Potter still four votes, as is the custom in cases like Lord Longbottom's with holding two titles, or is there another regulation for such a case?"

Neville's court of arms lit up and a surprised Dodge gave him the word. "I second Lord Abbott’s proposal of research and would like to bring forward a very similar question. As far as I know, we are in a very unique position, as never before have been so many seats vacant for various reasons as they are now. I wonder if this esteemed body is even able to vote for any change in the law at the moment. - As for taking a break, I think there lays to much work ahead of us. Regardless of the issue of regular votes, there are a lot of people incarcerated for more than three months already, who have had not even so much as brought forward formal charges against them. Should we not spend our time first with conducting theses trials, before discussing anything else? Has there been set timeslots for these trials already?"

Harry saw Robards nodding approvingly, but the Auror could not be surprised about Neville’s question. They had had a lot of discussions with the Head Auror about the investigation in the incarcerated people and his utter frustration that he could not even get a trial for those he already knew were innocent. They had a firm ally in Gawain Robards, even if the man himself so far did not know anything about their plans.

Dodge cleared his throats. "I understand that you had no opportunity to study the minutes of our last session, Lord Longbottom. It was decided that we could not set up any trials until the investigations had been concluded."

Neville nodded. "Which happened weeks ago, in some cases as much as two and a half month ago. As we are already gathered and the voting for a trial is conducted under different rules, we should use our time to do the duty this esteemed body has neglected to do in the last three months in favour for an extended summer break."

Harry grinned and he saw Augusta Longbottom openly snigger in the face of the consternation shown by many members of the Wizengamot. He let the tip of wand fall against the top of the front wall of his box, lighting up his courts of arms.

Dodge sighed deeply. "You have the word, Lord Potter."

"I second my husband." He grinned, having chosen those words just to rub in that fact. "Of course. - The proposed research will be done by the employees of the Office of Records if I'm not mistaken?" As Dodge nodded, Harry continued, "So, there is no reason for us to take a break in this session. And I think Head Auror Robards and Meredith Carlisle of the DMLE are prepared to present us with the results of their investigations."

Robards nodded. "The proposal for an order of trials was already presented to this esteemed body. There are several people who we have found to be innocent of any crime and that we should have been able to release without a trial in other circumstances. They are all listed in the first document and it should be a matter of minutes to deal with them all. The second document covers those who have been accused of serious crimes that have to be discussed in trials regardless of the findings of my people, but all our evidence is pointing to a positive outcome for them. The last list is of those people, for who we have found abundant evidence of their crimes not only in the last year but even previously."

There was no reason for Dodge or anyone else to protest the proposed proceedings. In fact, Harry was sure any such protest would have been against the law and Neville and Harry combined would have the power to see such an action prosecuted, at least for the moment. It could and probably would change when those seats who lay dormant, either because the heir or heiress was too young or because the person with a right to claim the seat was incarcerated without a trial at the moment, would be activated again.

One advantage of the extended summer break of the Wizengamot was that everyone put to trial on this day and the following two days had had a lot of time to prepare for their trial while the Wizengamot was barely prepared at all. Harry and Neville had worked with the solicitors of the people on the first two lists forwarded by Robards to prepare for this day and the Wizengamot had to work with the information the DMLE had for them. Neville and Harry gave them no time to dig up any dirt about the children of the Death Eaters who had not done anything else but have the wrong parents or who had done everything they could do work against the Lord and Master of their parents.

The first day of trials ended as they had predicted, with the release of everyone who was on the first two lists Robards had spoken about. Neville was especially pleased about the declaration of innocence of Draco Malfoy, who apparently had worked hard during this last year to help the students against the Carrows and had become a spy in the ranks of the Death Eaters. Harry was not sure if he would ever be able to understand the strange friendship that Neville had developed with Malfoy, but he would learn to live with it.

  
  


They spent three days holed up in the Wizengamot, conduction one trial after another and not giving the other members of it a moment to breath. For the third list Robards had provided, which was by far the longest, they had not held trials yet, but had had at least a hearing for everyone who had been imprisoned. Harry was determined that no one would go to Azkaban without getting their trial, as it had happened to Sirius, but the actual trials would take a lot of time. He was satisfied that now at least every one of the prisoners knew where they stood, which crimes they had been accused of and that everyone had gotten an approximate time for their actual trial.

There had been reporters present for every one of their sessions and of course, their appearance in the Wizengamot had been covered extensively in the papers, and not only the Daily Prophet in which at least a lot of the students had lost their trust. Harry and Neville had only superficially skimmed the papers and been mostly kept informed about the articles by Augusta, who had not accompanied them on the second and third day. There was a lot of speculation about their marriage as well as about the titles they had claimed.

The whole school and several adults had been there when Neville had drawn the sword of Gryffindor to fight with it a victorious battle against the enemy, and still, no one could explain how he had been able to claim the Gryffindor title. Of course, no one had to ask about the Slytherin title, even though many had doubted that Voldemort had actually been the heir of Slytherin until Harry's claim. Most questions revolved around the Peverell title and while the connection between Harry and Ignotus Peverell was quickly found, no one had an idea what rite Harry had had to perform to be able to claim the title. And Harry had no intention explaining to anyone about the Deathly Hallows.

After the Wizengamot had, at last, heard every person they had incarcerated months ago, it was decided that they would take a break of two days before they would return to the order of business that had originally been planned. Instead of enjoying a free day after three days of constant work, Neville and Harry returned to Hogwarts, where still a lot of rebuilding had to be done. It was only three more days until the students would return at the first of September and the castle was still not ready for it.

Neville and Harry apparated to Hogsmead and walked up to Hogwarts, where many of the older students and those that had graduated in the recent years were working hard to get at least most parts of the castle ready to house and educate students. Among those working in Hogwarts were their year mates and the Weasleys, who had been as unaware of their plans as everyone else. As such, Harry was not surprised to see the fury and anger on their faces as soon as they were spotted.

Still, the last thing Harry expected was Ginny storming right to them and trying to slap him. It was mostly an ingrained reflex that let him catch her hand before it could connect with his face. "What a nice welcoming that is!"

"Let me go!" Ginny demanded angrily.

Harry raised a brow. "So that you can try to slap me again?"

"What did you expect after this kind of betrayal?"

Harry laughed. "And how did I betray you?"

"You went and married this excuse of a squib!" Ginny screeched. "You should have married me! We were already planing it! You were leading me on!"

"I never said I would marry you." Harry shook his head. "You were the one talking about it all the time. I broke up with you more than a year ago and I never did or said anything to implicate that I would like to renew our very brief relationship since I came back here." He let go of her hand and took a step back in the hope to avoid another attack.

"You kissed me on your birthday!"

Harry snorted. "Last year! After we had only recently broken up and I had no idea what was waiting for me. I took great care in keeping my distance from you since the battle here in Hogwarts! I told you more than once that I had no interest in marrying you and you ignored me because you thought the new law that was proposed in May would leave me no choice. You were mistaken! Firstly because I already made my choice and secondly because we will not let the law come to pass. It's an atrocity!"

"We are not here to discuss our marriage," Neville said sighing. "Because that's no one's business but ours. We are here to help with the work that still needs to be done!"

Ginny scoffed and turned to Neville. "This whole thing is nothing more than a scam. I swear I will find out what you did to Harry, Longbottom! I knew you could not be trusted when you started to conspire with the sorts of Malfoy! I'll see this marriage resolved, you'll see!"

Harry could not hold back his laughter. "Good luck with that. It was a magical ceremony and we consumed it thoroughly. In fact, we spent a whole week doing nothing else but consuming our marriage!" He was rewarded with pure horror blooming over her face. Harry shook his head when she turned and stalked away from them. "I think someone should check her mind. She should at least be able to decide if I betrayed her or if you manipulated me somehow, don't you think?"

Neville sighed. "She has lived with this fantasy of someday being your wife for a very long time."

The rest of the Weasley family kept their distance and Harry was not sad about it. They had still not discovered how many of them were involved in Muriel Prewett's plans, aside from Molly and Ginny. He had already resigned himself to have lost all of them as friends because he suspected they would stand by their mother and sister regardless of their previous involvement. And after Ron had abandoned him and Hermione during their search for the Horcruxes, he could not even be surprised by this development.

For the first hour or so, no one else bothered them with their questions. Nearly everyone who had spent the last year in Hogwarts was looking up to Neville, who they had seen fight for them every single day. They trusted and respected him and Harry knew that would serve them in the future because they had a base of support that no one in the Wizengamot would expect them to have.

Hermione managed to separate Harry from his husband and everyone else while they were working on repairing a hallway that should lead to the Ravenclaw tower. "I can understand why you didn't tell Ron anything or the rest of the Weasleys, for that matter. But why did you exclude me?"

"When did you learn about the differences between the governments in the magical world and the muggle world?"

Hermione blinked. "In the months before I came to Hogwarts, of course!"

Harry nodded. "And you never talked to me about. Did you know that I had a hereditary seat in the government?"

"You never asked!" Hermione scolded him. "And you had never any interest in learning even the basics you needed for schoolwork! You went into the first potion lesson without having looked into the introductory texts even once!"

Harry sighed. "You mean those texts that every muggle borne gets from the teacher who comes to their home to introduce them to the magical world?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"But I'm not muggle born and I was never treated as such. There came no teacher to the house of my relatives to introduce me, instead, they send hundreds of letters when my uncle refused to let me open them. I never received those texts, Hermione. I never even knew about them. And for knowledge about the government, as we were learning nothing about it in Hogwarts I just assumed it was the same as in the muggle world."

Hermione opened her mouth but closed it again without saying anything.

Harry shrugged. "The truth is, that Dumbledore never wanted me to know these things. He thought I would have to die at the hands of Voldemort from the very start. He didn't want me to have anything to live for, and therefore he took great care to keep me away from the heritage of my family. I'm sure there are more plans of his still in play and this law Muriel Prewett brought forward in May is part of it."

"This is ridiculous, Harry!"

"You think they came up with this law in the span of a few days?" Harry asked mockingly. "Our government is built on hereditary seats and non-elected seats from the head of departments of the ministry. The only elected person in this whole body is the minister, and in this very moment, not even that is true because the election is still a month away. Voldemort was only a by-product of a conflict that has been constantly growing for over a decade. And instead of what's left of our government trying to root out the problems that led to Voldemort rising to power, the first thing they do is drive forward their own agenda in this conflict. - This war is not over only because we have defeated Voldemort. It didn't even start with Voldemort."

Hermione frowned, but Harry could see the growing protest in her.

He continued before she could say anything. "The … antipathy against muggle borns is only a by-product, too, you know? It's not even really about dark and light. It's about two groups in our government who are so estranged that both sides set out to drive the other side out of the government. Which is not as easy as it sounds, because as I said, they are not elected. Most of the members of the Wizengamot have inherited their seat and a family tends to stay on the side in the conflict they were born into. This whole war with Voldemort should have served both sides to eliminate enough of the other side to take over. And Dumbledore was in the midst of all of this, knowing fully what was really happening."

Harry took a deep breath. "Sirius incarceration was part of it because it took the Black seat out of the play. And now, nearly every family that was on the so-called dark side has either lost their head to the war or prison. It would have been the perfect opportunity to oust them from the government for good. To bring changes to our government that will at a first glance look like the right thing to do after the conflict we just lived through. Expect, the so-called light side has as many prejudices as everyone else and there would be no one in place to keep them in check any more."

"This is utter nonsense, Harry!" Hermione protested exaggerated. "You told me yourself you have no idea of the government. Has Neville told you all of that?"

Harry sighed. "Neville didn't need to tell me anything. I saw this law and knew it was still all the same. But until Neville talked to me, I had fully planned to pack the few possessions I still have and leave. I had no intention of throwing myself into the next fight because really, I'm just tired of it all. But Neville explained to me that I would have never been able to come back and that I would have forsaken everything my parents and Sirius left for me. - And after I had a little bit of time to think about it, I also understood that there would never come any change if I did what everyone did 18 years ago and just let it go on as it had been all along."

"So what, you set yourself out to reinstate the status quo?"

"For the moment." Harry nodded earnestly. "Those who will take up the seats that are dormant at this moment will be of our generation. People like Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass and Ernie Macmillan, who we may have been in conflict with during school, but who have seen the errors in the ways of their parents, regardless of on which side they were. - And we really needed to put a stop on them incarcerating dozens if not hundreds of people without giving them trials. Without Neville and me there, they would not even have put a discussion about the dates for trials on their agenda. I could not just stand by while they made the same mistakes that already cost me my godfather!"

Hermione sighed. "That's at least one good point you are bringing forward, I guess."

Harry scowled. "Our end goal is to bring forth a part of the government that is an elected entity. But that is still far in the future. The first thing we need to do is stop those old fools from driving us right into the next conflict."

"And why did you need to marry Neville for that? You don't even like blokes!"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "And how would you know that?"

"You have talked constantly about Ginny this past year," Hermione reminded him. "And before Ginny, it was all about Cho!"

Harry shook his head. "I'm sure if you go carefully through all your memories you'll see that it was you or Ron bringing up Ginny every single time we talked about her. And for my short relationships with Cho and Ginny, to tell the truth, I just did what I thought was expected from me. All the other guys were looking at the girls and asking them out and I … I felt I had to do the same. The first time I had actually time to think about what I really wanted, who I wanted, was during this last year. I kissed Cho only one time and I hated it. It wasn't much better with Ginny. It did give me a little bit of comfort, but there was nothing sexual about it for me."

Harry sat down on a stone, work forgotten for a moment. "You know that Ginny's great aunt introduced this law? That, among other things, would force me to accept a marriage proposal from Ginny's father for his daughter for her to pay back the life-debt she owes me? How this law is written would leave me no way to say no to it. And Ginny knew that long before all of it was public knowledge. And the rest of this law … It's well hidden, but in its core, it's absolutely archaic! They make it look like these new regulations surrounding marriage are a way to ensure the continuation of our population, but the truth is that it will force many people into marriages they don't want, mainly those from so-called dark families and those without any magical family at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the Weasleys already planned to use this law to force you into a marriage with Ron!"

"He is my boyfriend! They don't need to pressure me into anything," Hermione protested.

"And do you really want to spend the rest of your life with someone as lazy as Ron? And someone who has proven more than once that he'll run away at the first sign of trouble?" Harry shook his head. "I really can't see you being happy in a long term relationship with him. You know there is no such thing as divorce in the magical world, right? Even if you can convince him to forgo a magical marriage, which would irreversible bound you magically to him, as a muggle born you are not allowed to petition for divorce. - And when I look at the law that was just proposed, no one is interested in changing that."

"We were talking about your marriage, not my own that is still very hypothetical," Hermione rebuffed, but he could practically see her thinking. "You can't tell me you suddenly fell in love with Neville!"

Harry shrugged. "I like him a lot and he is hot. But you are right, I'm not in love with him. But that's not required for a marriage. We'll be able to accomplish more together and it will protect both of us from being forced into a marriage with someone we can't stand if we can't stop this law."

"You said to Ginny you had consumed the marriage. Which would mean sex, wouldn't it?"

Harry laughed. "The sex is amazing. You don't have to be in love with someone to have sex with them. But I really think Neville and I will be able to build a life together and probably even actually fall in love with each other over time. But even if that won't happen, I'll spend my life with a great friend and someone I know I can trust."

"And if one of you falls in love with another person? Or if one of you want to have children?"

"That's something between Neville and me." Harry shook his head. "We have already spoken about the possibility and we will have another discussion if it actually happens. Neither of us went into this marriage blind. And for children, there are ways for two wizards to create children of their own. It's apparently a little bit obscure, but Neville and I are both powerful enough to accomplish it. And we can adopt. We'll probably adopt Teddy because Andromeda doesn't know if she'll be able to raise another child."

Hermione huffed and shook her head. "This sounds all so crazy, Harry!"

"Have you ever actually studied the laws of our world?"

"No," Hermione said with a pinched face. "There are no law books in the library here and for some reason neither could Flourish and Bloods provide them for me."

"I can open up the libraries of the Potter, Black and Longbottom families for you," Harry suggested. "And I'm sure Augusta will be happy to answer any of your questions. She was very helpful to me in the last weeks."

Maybe Hermione would come around if she got all the necessary information. She had no idea of what really went on and he could understand that. Dumbledore had not only kept him in the dark but also the muggle borns. Because it would displease those in power when the muggle borns would suddenly decide they wanted to take part in the government as well. The magical world was so resistant to change that they had actively undermined every source who could bring change forward.

They did not know it yet, but that would find an end now.

But Hermione shook her head. "I won’t have any time for that! In contrast to you, I'm going back to Hogwarts for my NEWTs!"

"I told you Neville and I were going to Bern to take our international NEWTs, or at least a few. You could have come with us!"

Hermione huffed. "Without any preparation? - And I had thought that was only a ruse to hide your honeymoon."

Harry grinned. "That's true for the first of those two weeks. But afterwards, we did go to Bern. Each of us needed four NEWTs to be accepted by the Wizengamot in claiming our titles. And we didn't want to take them here to not arouse suspicion and because we are not sure how much value those tests would have this year."

Hermione frowned. "And in which courses did you get your NEWTs?"

"Defence of course, with an O." Harry grinned when she snorted. "Charms and Transfiguration and I have to thank you for your insistence in practising this last year that I actually got EEs in both. And Basic Arithmancy, which is basically Math and most of that I learned in elementary. But I spent most of June and July studying it to get ready for the NEWT and barely got an EE."

"That's impressive none the less!"

Harry shrugged. "There is another NEWT for the sort of Arithmancy you actually learned here in Hogwarts and not only the basics. I really don't understand why there are two, but it was the easiest choice for me, with it building up on the things I learned before Hogwarts."

Hermione nodded. "It was mentioned in our class that there are two different NEWTS. Those who want to study ritual craft and such need both. - Did Neville take the same?"

"Those four and Herbology because he has an affinity for it and it didn't take much for him to prepare for it. He got an O with special laudation in it. And several offers for apprenticeships, but he had to decline them all. There were a few who assured him the offer would still stand when the situation here had calmed down a little bit." Harry sighed. "I hope that's true. He was really sad to have to decline them all."

Hermione looked grimly down at the floor. "Still, I wouldn't have wanted to go into them without being prepared!"

Harry grinned. "I know. But you could also study on your own for the next year and then take as many of the international NEWTs as you want. Academically it would open you doors outside of England. I would like for you to reach your full potential and I can't see how that could be possible here. It will take years to change all those laws so muggle borns and half bloods won't be deprived any more."

Hermione took a deep breath and shook her head. "I can't … The tuition for my seventh year is already paid, and as I wasn't here last year, Professor McGonagall had it transferred for this year. I don't have … with my parents still in Australia, I don't have the money to study independently."

"I have a whole bunch of money, Hermione. And before you start to protest, hear me out, okay? You stood by my side for seven years. Without you, I would have never survived long enough to meet my fate. I would love to sponsor you. Or to give you a loan, if you insist on not taking any money from me. I know how much you love to learn and I … I would like to allow you to do just that."

"How did you get your money out of Gringotts?" she asked suspiciously. "The last time we talked about money, you had been banned by the goblins."

"They are actually called dverger," Harry corrected. "This is just another problem in this country, another bigotry that is taught to every new generation. - But that's not the point right now. Neville arranged a meeting and I was prepared to take full responsibility and pay any reparations they wanted, but after I had explained … I told them the truth, why we needed the cup, what it was, and that we had made a deal with Griphook. Somewhere in this whole discussion came to light that Griphook had not only betrayed us during our break-in, but he had kept my inheritance from me when I first came to Gringotts with Hagrid. I'm not sure if it was out of spite or if Dumbledore was involved in that, too. They are still investigating that, as far as I know. Whatever, suddenly the dverger were apologizing to me and thanking me for destroying the cup and revealing the week spot we used to get in and out. So, all of that is cleared up. For you and Ron, too. Haven't you gotten any letters from them?"

Hermione shook her head.

Harry frowned. "Curious. Maybe you should go to Gringotts and ask. - And just think about my offer, okay?"

  
  


At the end of that day, Harry fell exhausted into the bed he shared with Neville. It had not been planned that they would share a room or a bed but somehow they had just not stopped with it after the first night of their honeymoon. As he had told Hermione, the sex was great and it was nice to not be alone in the night.

"Are you alright?" Neville asked him, as he came out of the bath.

Harry sighed deeply. "I think it was good that I had an opportunity to speak with Hermione, but … I don't know. She doesn't understand what we are doing and why it's necessary. And as long as she is living with the Weasleys I don't see that changing."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Neville sat down on his side of the bed, leaning his back against the headboard. "While you were talking with her I had a very … interesting discussion with Bill Weasley. You know he is the heir to his grandfather because everyone else in that line died and his father has no interest in it?"

Harry nodded. "I vaguely remember something like that."

"Lord Weasley is no supporter of Lady Prewett and Bill is furious at his mother for basically brainwashing his sister. The Weasleys will stand with us in the Wizengamot. Not only against this law but in general."

"Maybe we could ask him to keep an eye on Hermione. I don't think … really, I don't even know why she is in a relationship with Ron. What does she see in him?"

Neville laughed. "Maybe it's still the after-effect of this horrid year. I'm sure as soon as they are back in school she'll remember why she couldn't stand him most of the time. - But you are right, we will warn Bill so that he can put a stop to it if Ron tries to trap her or something. I can see him wanting to trap her into marriage only so he'll have someone who'll manage his life."

"Did I overlook this all those years or did I just not notice this development in him?"

Neville turned and carded his fingers through Harry's hair. "Maybe we should let your memories be checked out as well. Because Ron was a little git from the beginning and you seemed to just ignore it, even in fourth year after he turned his back on you. And … if Dumbledore could change my memories, then he could have very well done it to you, too."

Harry sighed deeply. The dverger had checked over Neville for manipulations of his mind after they had been asked why Neville had never spoken with Harry about his inheritance and they had been unable to answer. It had turned out that Neville had tried to talk with him about it, shortly before Christmas in their first year. They had been interrupted by Ron before anything significant had been said and Neville had later been cursed by Dumbledore to forget that he wanted to talk with Harry about this topic.

The dverger had offered to take a look into Harry's mind, but after his experiences with Voldemort and Snape, he had not been able to trust them enough to let them do it. He had not even wanted to try and he was pretty sure that he would attack anyone who attempted it, even if he knew it was coming and had consented to it. The offer stood, but Harry had no intention of ever taking them up on it.

"I can't," he muttered.

Neville smiled sadly. "Okay. - I arranged a meeting with Draco tomorrow. As his father is dead, he will have no problem to take up his seat and he needs to know what we are planing so that he can support us. And he'll probably know who else will take up their family's legacy and if they will be of any help to us."

Harry furrowed his brows. "That's something I wanted to ask you all along. When you … took on Lucius Malfoy instead of letting him flee … did you kill him on purpose?"

Neville shrugged. "He had it coming. He was a detestable man and a cruel father. And he had more than once wormed his way out of charges against him. I didn't want to give him another chance for it. - The most bizarre thing was Draco thanking me for it afterwards."

Harry scowled. "I assume I have to be there for this meeting as well?"

Neville grinned and nodded. "He has changed a lot in the last year, give him a chance, please!"

Harry sighed deeply. "We saved each other lives, so there is probably a chance for a new start."

"It will be easier going from here," Neville muttered. "We won't have to keep quite so many secrets any more. We have already found an ally in Lord Weasley and his heir. And I really think Draco will not be the only ally in those taking the seats of their parents."

"We will still need to play these stupid power games with the Wizengamot," Harry said. "I felt so utterly unprepared during the trials. We had only ever talked about us claiming our titles and our introduction into the Wizengamot. There is still so much I don't know and I have no idea when I should find the time to learn all of it."

"Trust into your instincts. They have helped you survive all your encounters with Voldemort, they will help you navigate the politics as long as you are still learning."

"Have I ever thanked you for talking to me on that day?" Harry turned to his side, facing Neville. "I was nearly ready to leave, you know? And I know now that I would have regretted it very soon. I was so tired of all of it and … I was convinced there was no chance for me to change anything. Because if defeating Voldemort hadn't changed anything, how could there be anything else?"

Neville smiled softly. "You are welcome."

"I'm glad to be here with you. I had Hermione with me through all of the last seven years, but … this is truly the first time I'm not feeling lonely."

"I'm not sure if that is really because of me or because Dumbledore isn't there anymore to manipulate you!"

Harry shook his head. "It's because of you! I'm sure of that. … His mechanisations are still in play. Muriel Prewett is probably not the only one who is carrying on with them. Aside from all our plans, I'm actually looking forward to us building a life together. And I'm … somewhat thankful that … for the whole marriage, I mean."

Neville grinned. "Me, too. - I had a big crush on you, back in fifth year when you were teaching us the Patronus. I forced myself to get over it because I saw no chance of it leading to anything. And I'm not sure any more if I actually managed it or if I was just fooling myself the whole time because it's rapidly coming back."

Harry blinked dumbfounded.

"I didn't have any ulterior motives when I suggested this marriage," Neville assured hurriedly. "I didn't even think about my old crush until … our wedding night. When I proposed this, all I wanted was for both of us to find a way to be safe from a forced marriage to someone we would probably detest. But now …" He sighed. "I have planned something for next week. Kind of … a date. If you are interested."

Harry smiled brightly. "I am! Very much so!"

Nevilles sighed, visibly relieved. "Good. We need to keep our own life in mind, too. It can't be all about bringing the much needed changes to our government and rebuilding everything that was destroyed. We'll need to make time for ourselves."

"We will," Harry promised.

He slid over the sheets until he was pressed against Neville's side and buried the face in the chest of his husband. Every night since their wedding they had spent curled around each other and Harry had been concerned that someday this bubble would burst and they would go back to just being friends. He never wanted that to happen and Neville's words gave him the hope that maybe only this once he would actually get what he wanted.

** The End **

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for the "Marriage of Convenience" square of my Bingo Card.
> 
> And this is: BLACKOUT!  
> I wasn't sure if I could still accomplish it in time, after all, I had only five weeks left when I got my card. This is really satisfying!


End file.
